In its second analytics acquisition in as many weeks, IBM on Monday announced it has agreed to buy Netezza in a cash transaction valued at $1.7 billion, or $27 a share. Netezza will expand Big Blue’s business-analytics portfolio and set the stage for the next business intelligence battle.
Best known for high-performance analytics in a data-warehousing appliance that can handle complex analytic queries, Netezza empowers business users in every department of an organization to drive actionable insights. Netezza brings 350 clients to IBM’s fold, including Time Warner, Nationwide Insurance, and Virgin Media.
“IBM is bringing analytics to the masses,” said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Software and Systems. “We continue to evolve our capabilities for systems integration, bringing together optimized hardware and software, in response to increasing demand for technology that delivers true business value. Netezza is a perfect example of this approach.”
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Big Blue is betting the combined strengths of its existing business-analytics portfolio and Netezza’s intellectual property will differentiate its offering. IBM and Netezza had a pre-acquisition relationship that could make the integration smoother.
Netezza designs and develops its appliances on IBM systems. Strategic partners for many years, the companies have focused on workload-optimized systems that deliver integrated systems, software and storage for analyzing vast amounts of complex data quickly with minimal IT skills.
“It’s no longer just the CIO — every single department from finance to marketing professionals is tapping into the capabilities of analytics to draw meaningful insights,” said Arvind Krishna, general manager of IBM’s Information Management group. “The addition of Netezza will reinforce IBM’s focus in understanding clients’ needs by providing them a broader set of analytics capabilities and bringing the power of analytics right into the hands of business users at every level within an organization.”
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